Author Guidelines

Pre-submission consideration

The criteria for evaluating materials submitted to the journal, in no particular order, include:

• Its topical relevance to the theme and sub-themes of the journal
• The quality of writing, especially its clarity, logic, professional tone, and appropriateness to the audience of applied researchers and practitioners.
• The appropriateness and execution of the applied research methodology used in relevant cases
• The value of the insights gained from the paper in terms of its contribution to the literature

As an applied journal, the BJPA has a broader audience than a strictly academic journal would have. The authors have to keep this in mind and lean toward writing for a reader who may not be an academic. Define terms and spell out abbreviations that may not be familiar to all readers.

Manuscript Submission

Submission of a manuscript implies: that the work described has not been published before; that it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else; that all co-authors have approved its publication if any, as well as by the responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – at the institute where the work has been carried out. The publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.

Permissions

Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

Online Submission

Please follow the hyperlink “Submit online” on the top right and upload all of your manuscript files following the screen's instructions.

Article Types

Original Research (7,000):

Manuscripts that are based on newly generated data that have not previously been published or new analyses of existing data sets are treated as original research.

Review Article (Maximum 9,000 words):

Reviews are encouraged, generally should have a broader perspective, and may concern particular contemporary issues. They are generally prepared by experienced researchers with specialized in-depth knowledge of the topic. Extensive lists of references are expected. The general guidance given for Original Research submissions should be followed, but the system of headings and subheadings generally varies depending on the topic. Reviews generally include indications of outstanding issues to be addressed, and directions for future work could take to elucidate those issues.

Commentary (Maximum 2,000 words):

Remarks on particular topical issues or criticisms of published work in this or other journals, often controversial and bringing attention to matters of concern, are treated as commentaries. They should follow the general guidance under "Original Articles" and require an Abstract, but the internal structure will depend on the topic. Commentaries do not generally include original previously unpublished data.

Letter to the Editor (Maximum 1,000 words):

Opinions or criticisms drawing attention to issues of concern, or pointing out errors or inadequacies in Original Research articles published either in this journal or in other journals are welcome. They can be controversial, but need to cite supporting evidence for views expressed. No Abstract is required, no headings or subheadings are generally necessary, and references should not exceed 10-15.

Book Review (Maximum 1,000 words):

Scripts on review of recently published books related to the themes and sub-themes of the journal highlighting the arguments of the author(s) of the books, relevance of the books, are accepted.

The word count will include title, abstract, keywords, the body of the text, figures, and tables but excluding authors’ affiliations, references, and online supplementary material.

Text

Language

The journal‘s language is English. British English spelling and terminology are used. The authors are responsible for ensuring the language quality before submission.

Spacing

Please double−space all material, including notes and references.

Text Formatting

Manuscripts should be submitted in word.

• Use a standard, plain font (e.g., 12-point Times Roman) for text.
• Use the automatic page numbering function to number the pages.
• Do not use field functions.
• Use tab stops or other commands for indents, not the space bar.
• Use the table function, not spreadsheets, to make tables.
• Use the equation editor or Math Type for equations.
• Save the file in Docx format (Word 2007 or higher) or doc format (older Word versions).

Title page

The author(s) will submit two title pages.

The first title page (to be retained by the editor) should include:

• The name(s) of the author(s)
• A concise and informative title
• The affiliation(s) and address(es) of the author(s)
• The e-mail address, and telephone number(s) of the corresponding author
• If available, the 16-digit ORCID of the author(s)

The second title page (to be sent to reviewers) shall contain only the title of the article. It must not carry any sign that may indicate the identity of the author(s).

Abstract

Please provide an abstract of 200 to 250 words. The abstract should not contain any undefined abbreviations or unspecified references.

Keywords

Please provide 5 to 7 keywords under the abstract text that are capitalized and separated by semicolons. Consider standard words or terms that describe methodology, empirical investigation, and conclusions. Avoid general and plural terms and multiple concepts (avoid, for example, "and," "of"). Only use abbreviations that are firmly established in the field. If a standard abbreviation or synonym is used, please include this in addition to the standard word (s). These keywords are critical for Web searching and indexing purposes.

Introduction and Literature Review

State the objectives of the work and provide background, including a brief review of the relevant literature. Address works of other authors that relate to the topic, particularly their approach and results. This section should explain why the topic of the research is important, providing an adequate background to set the stage for the remainder of the paper.

Headings

Please use no more than three levels of displayed headings.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined at first mention and used consistently after that.

Footnotes

Footnotes can be used to give additional information. For in-text citation, always use the Harvard style of referencing.  Footnotes should not consist solely of a reference citation, and they should never include the bibliographic details of a reference. They should also not contain any figures or tables.

Footnotes to the text are numbered consecutively; those to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data). Footnotes to the title of an article will be asterisks, and the authors of the article and elsewhere will be Arabic numerals.

Always use footnotes instead of endnotes.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements of people, grants, funds should be placed in a separate section on the title page. The names of funding organizations should be written in full.

Appendices

If there is more than one appendix, they should be identified as A, B, or C. It is suggested that the appendices should be as concise as possible.

Referencing

In both the in-text citation and reference list, Harvard Reference System will be applied.

Basic format to reference

The basics of a Reference List entry:

• Author information. The first initials follow the surname of an author. A comma follows the surname. There will be no space between the first initials of the author. In the case of two authors, the author's information will be connected by the symbol for 'and', i.e., ‘&’. In the case of more than two authors, the last author will be preceded by ‘&’ and the preceding authors by a comma. There will be no sign between author information and year of publication.
• Year of publication. A comma will follow the year of publication of a  work.
• In the case of a journal article, the title of the work will be in single inverted commas, in sentence case, and followed by a comma, and the name of the journal will be in italics, in title case, and followed by a comma. In the case of an authored book, the title of the book will be in italics, in title case, and followed by a comma. In the case of an edited book, the chapter title will be in single inverted commas, in sentence case, and followed by a comma. After that, the remaining publication information will be the same as an edited book but preceded by 'In' and a colon, i.e., ‘In:’.
• Facts of publication: (a) In the case of a journal article, after the name of the journal, there will be a volume (written as ‘vol.’) number followed by a comma, an issue number (written as ‘no.’) followed by a comma, and page references written as ‘pp.’ with a full stop at the end. Volume number, issue number, and page references all will be in Arabic numerals. (b) In the case of a book, after the name of the book, there will be a place of publication followed by a colon and the name of the publisher with a full stop at the end.

Examples:

Journal Article:

Rahman, MM, Nishat, A & Vacik, H 2008, ‘Anthropogenic disturbances and plant diversity of the Madhupur Sal forests (Shorea robusta C.F. Gaertn) of Bangladesh,' International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 162-173.

Book:

(i) Authored book:

Rahman, MM 2018, Development Agenda and Donar Influence in South Asia: Bangladesh’s Experiences in the PRSP Regime, London: Routledge.

(ii) Edited book (single editor):

Ahmed, I (Ed.) 2010, The Plight of the Stateless Rohingyas: Responses of the State, Society and the International Community, Dhaka: University Press Ltd.

(iii) Edited book (More than one editor):

Ebrahim, A & Weisband, E (Eds.) 2007, Global Accountabilities: Participation, Pluralism, and Public Ethics, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

(iv) Chapter of a book:

Lloyd, E 2013, 'Organizational culture,' In: Arvinen-Muondo, R & Perkins, S (Eds.) Organizational Behaviour: People, Process, Work and Human Resource Management, London: Kogan Page Ltd, pp. 209-240.

Working Paper:

O’Donnell, G 1998, ‘Horizontal accountably and new polyarchies’, Working Paper No. 253, Vienna: The Helen Kellogg Institute of International Studies.

Referencing Examples:

Material Type	In-Text Example	Reference List Examples
Direct quote	According to Paul (2011, p. 4), “Bangladesh maintained a fixed exchange rate until the late 1970s.”	Paul, BR 2011 ‘Revisiting export-led growth for Bangladesh: A synthesis of cointegration and innovation accounting,' International Journal of Economics and Finance, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 3-15.
Indirect quote	Paul (2011) found that Bangladesh maintained a steady exchange rate until the late 1970s.
Two authors	Members of a powerful nexus have affected the dysfunctionality of state institutions (Alam & Teicher 2012). or Alam  &Teicher (2012) claimed that …	Alam, Q & Teicher, J 2012, 'The state of governance in Bangladesh: The capture of state institutions,' South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, vol. 17, no. 45, pp. 1-27.
More than two authors	A study on natural forest reserve in Austria revealed that stand dynamics among tree species differ (Vacik et al. 2009).  or Vacik et al. (2009) found that …	Vacik, H, Rahman, MM, Ruprecht, H & Frank, G 2009, 'Dynamics and structural changes of an oak-dominated natural forest reserve in Austria', Botanica Helvetica, vol. 119, no. 1, pp. 23-29.
Newspaper (with no author)	When the Rohingya people identified themselves as Rohingyas, the enumerators did not register them (The Bangkok Post 2 April 2014.	Bangkok Post 2014, UN Slams Rohingya Census Exclusion, 2 April.
Government Document	The GOB (2013) circular provides necessary information about the innovation activities to be carried out by an innovation team.	Government of Bangladesh (GOB) 2013, Cabinet Division Notification, Bangladesh Gazette, Additional Number, 8 April, Bangladesh Government Press.
Website	The GIU (2018) identifies novelty, effectiveness, significance, replicability, process simplification, and sustainability as application characteristics of innovation.	Governance Innovation Unit (GIU) 2018,  <http://www.giupmo.gov.bd/site/page/d1f64d7a-f1d2-45a1-abea-df7ba239424f/What-is-'Innovation'?> Accessed 25 July 2018 at 6:40pm

Direct Quotes

 Direct quotes of less than 25 words are written within the body with double inverted commas and specific page reference. Direct quotes of 25 or more words are written in a separate paragraph without inverted commas following a colon in the preceding paragraph and are indented .5 inch from the left margin. Three dots (...) are used to indicate the omitted quotes within quotes. Additional information within quotes is given within the first bracket. An example is given below:

Echoing the previous argument, a sub-district level innovation officer explained:

In fact, I think, the number one (requirement) is training on changing the mindset … because if someone’s mindset does not change, how he can simplify the service delivery process” (Interview 5).

Tables

• All tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals, in bold type, with the term 'Table,' in bold type, in the beginning, and the table number followed by a colon. The table title will follow the title case and centred alignment. The table title will appear above the table. There will be no punctuation at the end of the table title.
• Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
• For each table, please supply a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table.
• Identify any previously published material by giving the source in the form of a reference at the bottom of the table.
• Footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript lower-case letters (or asterisks for significance values and other statistical data) and included beneath the table body.

Figure Lettering

• To add lettering, it is best to use the same fonts of the main text.
• The variance of type size within an illustration should be minimal, e.g., do not use 8-pt type on an axis and 20-pt type for the axis label.
• Avoid effects such as shading, outline letters.
• Do not include titles or captions within illustrations.

Figure Numbering

• All figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
• Figures should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
• Figure parts should be denoted by lower-case letters (a, b, c).
• If an appendix appears in the article and it contains one or more figures, continue the consecutive numbering of the main text. Do not number the appendix figures,

Figure Captions

• Each figure should have a concise caption describing accurately what the figure depicts. Include the captions in the text file of the manuscript, not in the figure file.
• Figure captions begin with the term 'Figure' in bold type, followed by the figure number, also in bold type. A colon will follow the figure number. The figure title will follow the title case and centred alignment. The figure title will appear below the figure. There will be no punctuation at the end of the figure title.
• Identify all elements found in the figure in the figure caption; and use boxes, circles, as coordinate points in graphs.
• Identify previously published material by giving the source in the form of a reference citation at the end of the figure caption.

Figure Placement and Size

• When preparing figures, size figures to fit in the column width.
• For most journals, the figures should be 39 mm, 84 mm, 129 mm, or 174 mm wide and not higher than 234 mm.

Permissions

To include figures that have already been published elsewhere, obtain permission from the copyright owner(s).

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

This journal is committed to upholding the integrity of the record. The journal follows standard guidelines on how to deal with potential acts of misconduct.

Authors should refrain from misrepresenting research results, which could damage the journal's trust, the professionalism of authorship, and, ultimately, the entire research endeavour. Maintaining the integrity of the research and its presentation can be achieved by following the rules of good scientific practice:

• The manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration.
• The manuscript has not been published previously (partly or in full) unless the new work concerns an expansion of previous work (please provide transparency on the reuse of material to avoid the hint of text-recycling ("self-plagiarism").
• A single study is not split up into several parts to increase the number of submissions submitted to various journals or to one journal over time.
• No data have been fabricated or manipulated (including images) to support your conclusions.
• Consent to submit has been received explicitly from all co-authors, as well as from the responsible authorities - tacitly or explicitly - at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out before the work is submitted.
• Authors whose names appear on the submission have contributed sufficiently to the research work and therefore share collective responsibility and accountability for the results.
• Authors are strongly advised to ensure the correct author group, corresponding author, and order of authors at submission. Changes of authorship or in the order of authors are not accepted after acceptance of a manuscript.
• Adding or deleting authors or changing the order of authors at the revision stage may be justifiably warranted. A letter must accompany the revised manuscript to explain the reason for the change(s), and the contribution role(s) of the added or deleted author(s). Further documentation may be required to support any request.
• Requests for addition or removal of authors as a result of authorship disputes after acceptance are honoured after formal notification by the publisher or independent body and/or when there is an agreement between all authors.
• Upon request, authors should be prepared to send relevant documentation or data to verify the validity of the results. This documentation could be in the form of raw data, samples, records. Sensitive information in the form of confidential, proprietary data is excluded.
• When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her published work, the author should promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Research Data Policy

A submission to the journal implies that materials described in the manuscript, including all relevant raw data, will be freely available to any researcher wishing to use them for non-commercial purposes, without breaching participant confidentiality.

Data Availability

The journal encourages authors to provide a statement of data availability in their article. Data availability statements should include where the data supporting the results reported in the article can be found, including, where applicable, hyperlinks to publicly archived datasets analyzed or generated during the study.